Admirals Ready for East Division Showdowns

NORFOLK, VA – The Norfolk Admirals are preparing for three East Division showdown games against their two closest division competitors this week. They will finish a road trip against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday before hosting the Albany River Rats at Scope on Friday and Saturday.

The Admirals are tied for second place in the East Division and will conclude the five-game road trip on Wednesday against the fourth-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. They will then square off against the team they are tied with as the Albany River Rats visit Scope on Friday and Saturday nights. On Friday night, fans can get a free H1N1 influenza vaccination courtesy of the Norfolk Department of Public Health. Saturday night is American Cancer Society Relay for Life Night with discounted fundraising tickets available. Please see below for more details.

EAST DIVISION STANDINGSAt 33-26-3-1 (70 points in 63 games), the Admirals are tied for second place in the American Hockey League’s East Division. The East is led by the Hershey Bears (46-12-0-2, 94 points in 60 games). The Admirals are tied with the Albany River Rats (32-24-3-3, 70 points in 62 games) for second place although the River Rats have one game in hand. The Admirals lead the fourth-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (30-27-1-2, 63 points in 60 games) by seven points, but the Penguins have three games in hand. The fifth-place Adirondack Phantoms (28-28-2-2, 60 points in 60 games) trail Norfolk by ten points with three games in hand. The sixth-place Syracuse Crunch (26-29-3-3, 58 points in 61 games) trail the Admirals by 12 points with two games in hand. The seventh-place Binghamton Senators (22-29-4-3, 51 points in 58 games) round out the division 19 points back of the Admirals with five games in hand. Click here for the complete, up-to-the-minute AHL standings.

Norfolk has won 16 of its last 21 games and has points in all but three of those 21 games (16-3-1-1, 34 points, 81.0% of possible points).

In that span, Norfolk’s season record has improved from 17-23-2-0 (36 points, 42.9% of possible points, 7th place in East Division) to 33-26-3-1 (70 points, 55.6% of possible points, tied for 2nd place in East Division).

The Admirals have also won nine of their last 11 games.

Norfolk finished February 2010 with ten wins and 21 points – tied for the most wins (March 2002, January 2007) and ranking second in points (March 2002, 22 points) in any calendar month in AHL Admirals history.

After completing their five-game road trip on Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Admirals play 12 of their final 16 games at home.

Jim Johnson was promoted to an assistant coaching position with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday last week. Johnson guided Norfolk to a 13-2-1-1 record in 17 games as head coach.

Mark Parrish had a seven-game point streak (3G, 6A) end on Friday in Binghamton. Parrish was recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier today.

Juraj Simek is tied for the American Hockey League lead in shootout conversions (5), shootout shooting percentage (100%) and shootout winning conversions (3). He has scored in all five shootout games Norfolk has played this season.

ADMIRALS PLAYER OF THE WEEKJuraj Simek: 3 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS Juraj Simek was tied for the Norfolk lead in goals and points in four games last week. After going scoreless on Wednesday in Binghamton and Friday in Adirondack, Simek registered a pair of assists and had the game-winning shootout conversion on Saturday in Binghamton. Yesterday in Syracuse, Simek had a pair of goals – including the game-winner with under five minutes left in regulation – as the Admirals topped the Crunch 3-2.

Simek has already doubled his previous career high with 18 goals this season, surpassing the nine he had for Norfolk last season. In 62 games for the Admirals, Simek has 18 goals, 15 assists and 33 points. He ranks third in points and goals on the club. He is also tied for the club lead with seven power play goals. Simek is now five-for-five in shootout opportunities this season with three shootout-winning conversions. He leads the AHL in shootout goals, shootout percentage and is tied for the lead in shootout-winning conversions.

NEW PARKING OPTION AVAILABLE FOR ADMIRALS GAMES :
Today, the Bank Street Garage opened to parkers. The new garage, located at 441 Bank Street, has 1,372 parking spaces to accommodate downtown monthly and transient parkers. The garage will also provide additional parking for patrons of downtown venues. For additional information about Norfolk’s parking facilities, please call 664-6222 or visit www.norfolk.gov/parking.

FREE H1N1 FLU VACCINATION AT FRIDAY’S GAME! :
The Admirals have teamed up with the Norfolk Department of Public Health to offer free H1N1 influenza vaccinations for all fans at their game on Friday at Scope.

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY RELAY FOR LIFE NIGHT :
Join us on Saturday for American Cancer Society Relay For Life Night. Special discounted fundraising tickets are available with proceeds going back to the American Cancer Society. For more information or to purchase your vouchers, contact your Relay For Life team leader or the American Cancer Society at (757) 493-7940. The top two selling teams will compete in an intermission broomball game.

THIS WEEK ON THE ADMIRALS HOUR RADIO SHOWThe Admirals Hour returns to its normal day and time this week, as it will air from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. on ESPN Radio 94.1-FM. “The Voice of the Admirals” Pete Michaud will be in the studio hosting the show with a guest. Stay tuned to norfolkadmirals.com and to Facebook.com/NorfolkAdmirals and Twitter.com/NorfolkAdmirals for more information.

SCOUTING REPORTThe Admirals will visit Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday for their fourth of five road contests against the Penguins in Pennsylvania this season. The fourth-place Penguins (30-27-1-2, 63 points in 60 games) trail the Admirals by seven points in the East Division standings but have three games in hand. Norfolk has won the last three contests between the clubs and is 4-1-0-0 against the Baby Pens this season. Dustin Jeffrey leads the Penguins in assists and points (18G, 38A, 56PTS). Former Admiral Wyatt Smith is tied for third in assists and is fifth in points (12G, 27A, 39PTS) while former Admiral Wade Brookbank is the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team leader with 123 penalty minutes. The Penguins have standings points in eight of their last nine games (7-1-0-1) including a 2-1 shootout loss at home to the Hershey Bears on Sunday. They do not play again before hosting Norfolk on Wednesday.

On Friday and Saturday, the two teams currently deadlocked for second place in the AHL’s East Division will square off as the Admirals and Albany River Rats meet at Scope. Both the Admirals (33-26-3-1) and River Rats (32-24-3-3) have 70 points, although Albany has played only 62 games as opposed to Norfolk’s 63. The River Rats have won four of the five meetings between the clubs this season including a 2-1 win in Albany on February 15 in the last matchup between the clubs. Jerome Samson (27G, 26A) leads the River Rats with 52 points. Leading Albany goaltender Justin Peters (22-16-2, 2.60, .915) was recalled by the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday, leaving rookie Mike Murphy (10-9-0, 2.81, .917) between the pipes along with veteran Mike Morrison (0-2-1, 4.17, .855) and PTO signee Ryan Mior (has not yet played). Albany has lost four of its last seven games including a 4-2 setback yesterday in Portland. They will host Binghamton tomorrow morning before traveling to Norfolk on Friday and Saturday.

TICKETSTo purchase tickets to any Admirals game, you may visit the Scope Box Office weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., visit any Ticketmaster outlet, call Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or visit Ticketmaster online at ticketmaster.com. Don’t miss a minute of the action by purchasing your 2009-10 season tickets today. Stop by the Admirals’ Administrative Offices at Scope, call (757) 640-1212 weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or visit norfolkadmirals.com anytime!

ON THE RADIO/INTERNETAll eighty regular season games will air live on STAR 1310-AM and will stream online free of charge at star1310.com. AHL Live will carry online video of every Admirals game on a pay-per-view or season pass basis. Fans can log in to watch or get more information about AHL Live’s online video features at ahllive.com.